Cypriot Press Headlines 18.8.11

Cypriot newspaper headlines for August 18th, 2011 - Alithia: The paper reports on a leaked document which says that President Christofias told Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that he would return the weapons seized from the Monchegorsk ship in 2009.

In other news, there are rumours that four top officials in the foreign ministry will be questioned by police in the criminal arm of the investigation into the deadly July 11th explosion at Mari naval base.

Simerini: "President exposed" headlines an article saying that Simerini's release of a top secret document caused an uproar. The document refers to a meeting between Christofias and Assad in which the president promised to return the munitions to Syria or Iran. In other news, a unit at Vasiliko power station was repaired yesterday, adding another 35 MW to the electricity grid.

Phileleftheros: "President in isolation" headlines an article saying that all political forces with the exception of AKEL want Christofias to assume political responsibility for the explosion at Mari naval base.

Xaravgi (communist party paper): "Agreements to be respected" headlines an article saying that public employee trade unions PEO and SEK called on political parties like DISY not to promote measures outside the principles of social dialogue.
 
Turkish-Cypriot news headlines August 18th, 2011 (source PIO).

Kibris reports that Kudret Ozersay, special representative of Turkish Cypriot leader Eroglu said the Turkish Cypriot side could start making agreements and exploring for oil and natural gas.

Bayrak television reports that 'prime minister' Irsen Kucuk warned the Cyprus Government that it cannot use unilaterally the island’s natural resources, over which Turkish Cypriots have joint rights. Calling on the Cyprus Foreign Minister Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis, Kucuk said: “We won’t let you use these resources unilaterally.”

Afrika newspaper reports that Abdullah Korkmazhan, the organizational secretary of the United Cyprus Party (BKP) criticized the Turkish Cypriot leader, Dervis Eroglu, who stated that two “sovereign states and peoples” exist in Cyprus. Eroglu made these statements at a ceremony on the occasion of the celebrations for the 37th anniversary from the occupation of Lefka.

Korkmazhan said that with these statements Eroglu showed how far he is from an early solution to the Cyprus problem. He went on and added that on the 7th July summit in Geneva both Eroglu and President Christofias committed to the UN Secretary-General to work towards finding a federal solution and establish a united Cyprus. “Eroglu’s policy is inconsistent and haphazard”, he stated.

Hurriyet Daily News reports that Turkish jets launched air raids on suspected bases belonging to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), in northern Iraq on Wednesday. The raids came hours after eight soldiers and a village guard were killed in an ambush by PKK members.

Some 15 warplanes took off from a Turkish base to strike at bases which the PKK use as a springboard to attack targets inside Turkey, according to a report on the NTV news channel.

CNNTurk television said Turkish F-16s were involved in the raids.